Stanford Football Recruiting Letter Brags About Stanford Graduates’ Salaries, Will Make You Hate Stanford

UPDATE: It’s been pointed out the the information from Stanford you’ll see below was from a letter sent to prospective recruits. This, of course, makes the idea to point out the salaries even more brilliant (it’s the purpose of letters like this to make Stanford sound like the greatest place in the world, after all), but the wording still enrages us.

Last year, Stanford’s football team was among the nation’s best, and may be so again this year. And not only were the Cardinal great in 2010, they – especially frighteningly advanced quarterbacking automaton Andrew Luck – were fun to watch, with a high-powered Luck-led offense that produced 40 points a game. They were so fun to watch, in fact, that watching Stanford play, we just couldn’t help liking the team.

Of course, the other thing about Stanford is that it’s an outstanding school – one of the nation’s best. If anything, this made the on-field success worthy of even more praise – Stanford went 12-1, and they did it with academic restrictions most programs wouldn’t face. They had a lot to be proud of, sure…but if this excerpt from the football program’s latest media guide a letter the school sends to potential student-athletes is any indication, maybe they’re getting a little too proud:

Yes, it’s bragging about Stanford graduates’ salaries relative to other top 25 teams from this past college football season. In their defense, it’s sort of a clever idea…and man, those are some impressive differences. (Couple observations: apparently going to a science/tech-leaning school pays off, and Auburn graduates are doing pretty well for themselves.)

In their non-defense: could this be any more smug? We’re not sure whether to be impressed with Stanford for coming up with this idea, or just to get angry at them for being so pleased with themselves. Let’s look at what the page says a bit more to help us decide:

That’s just the salary advantage for the average Stanford grad, and there has been nothing average to this point in your life.